Robert muckelt and william rigby



UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT MUOKELT AND WILLIAM RIGBY, OF SALFORD, ENGLAND.

i MACI-IIITE-FOR ENGRAVING CYLINDER-S.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 17,290, dated May 12, 1857.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, ROBERT MUCKELT and WILLIAM RIGBY;bot-h of Salford, in the county of Lancaster, in the Kingdom of Great Britain7 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Engraving Designs on Cylindrical or other Surfaces; and we hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification.

Our invention consists first in improved machinery for producing any figure or repetitions of a figure upon the `surface of a cylinder through a combination of two motions one in the direction of rotation which we prefer to give to the cylinder and one in the direct-ion of its length which we recommendbeing given to the tool 0r tools; these motions are effected simultaneouslyby passing a tracer over an enlarged drawing of the figure, the tracer being xed to a carriage which travels upon bars or rails connected with the cylinder,- by arms attached thereto in such way as to impart to it its rotary motion, which carriage also in travel ing along the said bars or rails transmits longitudinal motionto the tool or tools; secondly in transferring designs for etching or engraving purposes, from a flat surface to cylindrical or flat surfaces by means of pendulum levers acting on adjustable studs and other parts in combination therewith7 wherebythe proportion in size between the original design and that produced on the surfaceto be etched or engraved may be varied to any extent `within certain limits; thirdly in the machinery for communicating motion from the `pointer carriage to the slide supporting the diamonds or other engraving instruments; fourthly in the application of a ruler or guide plate to machinery used in etching or engraving by means whereof the pointer may be guided for ruling lines to produce what is technically called a solid; and lastly in an improved mode of supporting lthe mandrels` of cylinders for the purpose of reducing friction; and in order that our invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a machine for engraving a cylinder to which our improvements are applied. Fig. 2 is a front elevation and Fig. 3 a plan of part of the same.

a, a, are the standards for the table b, to

engraving the cylinder e, are supported in i the usual manner in studs screwed to the levers h. These levers vibrate in the bracket z', which are capable of being adjusted laterally on' the cross beam j, according to the number of repeats of the pattern in the length of the cylinder as in other machines for engraving.

In Fig. 2 we have only shown the first and last diamond levers. The intermediate ones are placed at any convenient distance apart to suit the pattern.

` The cross beam j is supported by the brackets la, and slide block Z. These slide blocks are connected to the brackets by screws and lock nuts by means of which the cross beam j and diamond levers can `be raised or lowered according to the diameter of the cylinder to be engraved. g

. The requisite traverse motion is given to the diamonds by means of the vibrating or pendulum leverm, whose fulcrum shaft n, is supported by the adjustable bush p, which is fixed to the screw g passing through a nut in the bracket 0, which bracket is bolted to the table.` The vibrating lever m, is furnished with a sliding block in which lits the stud 7', projecting from the nut s. This nut is raised or lowered by the screw u, in the slot piece t; which is screwed to the cross beam j. In some cases when less to and fro motion is given to the carriage A the vibrating lever m, may be moved by a stud projecting from the carriage which stud takes into a slot in the said lever m. rllhe lower end of the vibrating lever m, passes through the carriage fv, and through a slot in the table ZJ, the carriage o, is supported on rollers working on the edges of the slot and to the under side of this carriage may be attached i. i. W

A proportion in size between the original dethe ends of a band w, which is taken over the pulleys and y, for a purpose to be hereafter explained.

The tracing point e, is jointed in the usual manner to the carriage A which is supported by rollers running upon the cross rail B the ends of which are attached to the frames C, C, supported by rollers on the grooved rails D D fixed to the table b.

In large machines it may become necessary to add further devices, for keeping the carriage, cross rail, and frames square. To accomplish t-his the following devices may be added viz: To the upper side of the carriage A may be attached the ends of the band E which is taken over the pulleys 4F and G. The carriage A cross rail B and frames C, C, are kept square by the bands X X and guide pulleys Y Y as shown in Fig. 3. Excepting in machines of large dimensions vthese squaring bands are not required.`

The pulley above referred to may be keyed on the shaft I-I which is supported by two center pins mounted in bearings fixed 'to the table b, but'the pulley F should be connected to the said shaft in suchwise that it is capable of being moved with facility in the direction of its axis. For this purpose the hole in the pulley is somewhat larger than the shaft, and to the pulley are fixed bearings for four rollers, the circumferences of which take into grooves in the shaft. By this arrangement when the cariage A is moved laterally or longitudinally the band E imparts a partial rotary motion to the pulley F which motion is transmitted to the shaft H by the rollers taking into the grooves above referred to. The pulley Gr may revolve on the pivots of adjusting set screws (as shown best in Fig. 3) passing through part of the right hand frame C to which is attached the stud I taking into a sliding block or passing through a slot in the lever J whose fulcrum is at K. This lever is provided with a sliding block in which fits a stud L projecting from the nut M which is raised and 4lowered by the regu.

lating screw N working in the slot piece O attached to theV bar g, above referred to.

V'When the tracing point .a is being moved over the original design which is fixed to the table b the stud I projecting from the right hand frame C imparts the requisite to and fro motion to the lever J which to and fro motion transmits through the bar g and steel bands a partial rotary motion to the cylinder e. 1

In transferring designs by means of the improved machinery above described the l l sign and that of the design to be etched or engraved'on the cylinder e having been determined, the positions of the sheds r and L proiecting from the nuts s and M are adjusted by means of the screws u and N. The position of the stud 1^ can be adjusted to regulate the traverse of the diamonds to suit the number of repetitions of the designs on the length of the cylinder, and the position of the stud L according to the amount of rotary motion required to be given to the cylinder, and as each stud can be adjusted independently of the other, it is obvious, not only that the same enlarged design may be used for producing various sizes of designs on the cylinder; but that the design produced on the cylinder may also be compressed or elongated as required by varying the relative positions of the studs 1" and L. When a series of designs has been produced on the cylinder the attendant removing his foot from the treadle Q and thereby bringing the lever R against the set screws S by which the diamonds are lifted, turns a handle on the worm shaft I), which causes the cylinder to revolve the requisite portion of a revolution for bringing a fresh portion of the surface of the cylinder under the diamonds. Both these operations are performed in the usual manner.

If it should be requisite to transfer the design on to a flat surface instead of on to a cylinder as shown, the fiat surface would have to be supported on two bars similar to the one marked g, and the requisite motion would be communicated thereto as above described. We would also observe that by lengthening the levers m, and J beyond their fulcra and prolonging the slots in the pieces t and O the design produced may be reversed.

The fourth part of our invention consisting of the application of a ruler or guide plate for guiding the pointer e, is shown in Fig. 3. The ruler or guide plate which is marked 03X is connected to a carriage or slide on the rail I) along which it is caused to travel by turning a screw, or by any other well known device. The ruler or guide plate is made with a joint to enable the angle thereof to be adjusted at pleasure.

The mode of operation is as follows: After the outline of the design has been engraved on the cylinder if it be requisite to cross line the space wit-hin the outline so as to produce what is technically called a solid, the attendant by turning the handle a;XX brings the ruler or guide plate to the required position over the design on the table. The attendant then brings the point of the tracer z to one edge of the design and allows the diamonds to touch the cylinder. I-Ie then draws the tracer along the ruler or guide plate until it touches the other outline of the design and at the same time the diamonds produce the same line on the surface 'of the cylinder; the position of the ruler or guide plate is then changed and a fresh line is ruled in the same manner. In order-to insure a uniform distance between the cross lines we may fix an index plate to the screw that operates the slide by which we are enabled to turn the screw an entire or any portion of a revolution after each line has been ruled.

Fig. 4 represents a detached view of the two ends of the mandrel d showing our improved mode of supporting it. At the right hand end of the mandrel is the pulley f in which is a groove fitting on a projection from the friction rack g, and a similar pulley and rack are applied at the left hand side of the mandrel. These pulleys oreither ,of them may be `connected to the friction racks by steel bands if required.

The mandrel is retained in its lateral position by means of slide blocks fitting in the headstoclrs shown in Fig. 5 which is an end view` of the parts; by thus increasing the diameter of the parts by which the mandrel is supported the friction is reduced and consequently less power is required for moving the carriage A along the rails D.

What we claim herein as new and desire drical or other surfaces we have hereunto set our hands this tenth day of J une in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun dred and fifty-six.

ROBERT MUCKELT. WILLIAM RIGBY.

Witnesses:

H. B. BARLbW, JOHN PERKINS, 

